in

Jacking Sergio's work here, but this is why Geo of Blue Scholars is one of my favorite rappers. From "Opening Salvo" off that "Bayani" album...

First Verse:
Yo, it's the opening salvo
Where po scope the people like Mohammed and Malvo
A sample of the battle we're waging against an animal
Made to snuff us out like the wick of a candle
And all the youth dressed in camo, we ready to handle
And no this war is not scripted
Can't change the channel
We cancellin' all subscriptions
This is the last issue
When the casket closed, can't take the cash with you
And no post mortem residuals
We individuals who, indivisible, become the most invincible
But that is not the issue at hand
We demand a simple right to question y'all people
"Where the fuck is freedom at?"
It's all we ask but instead we get our asses assasinated fast
If the first shall be last, it's time to prepare
Black cloud sky fallin,' put a hand in the air

Hook:
My people build monuments to weather the flood
I'ma leave how I came: screamin' covered in blood
Died once born twice, both times we knuckled up
Alongside my people we gonna struggle with love...

in

The iPhone madness has begun, and the subsequent coverage is consuming my life at work.

Check out the reviews: WSJ, NYTimes, USA Today, Newsweek

Basically, the iPhone can cure blindness, reverse global warming and was directly responsible for the immaculate conception of Jesus Christ. Barry Bonds doesn't use steroids. He uses an iPhone.

in

I was one of those 90's Seattle kids who spent the $25 on the '89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. I bought Beckett magazines monthly thinking that I had invested in the sports card trading equivalent of a mid-80's Microsoft share. I watched the card value spike up to $100 by 1994. What a return.

And what a return The Kid, Ken Griffey Jr. made to Seattle this weekend. Seattlites packed Safeco Field aka "The House That Griffey Built" for the Griffey's homecoming and welcomed him with continuous standing ovations throughout the Reds series. Griffey jerseys -- both Mariners and Reds varieties -- sold out Ichiro jerseys 20-1.

The Mariners orchestrated a pregame ceremony before Friday's game (see picture) and Griffey gave Seattlites the treat of watching his signature swing hit two balls out of the park, passing Mark McGuire's homerun count, in a Mariners' win on Sunday.

The weekend was nostalgically pleasant, and appropriately ignorant of the rather sour feelings this city had when its first sports superstar departed after his 11-year career in Seattle.

No need for hard feelings, afterall, The Kid is no longer. His post-Mariners career has been below average and cursed by injuries -- torn left hamstring, torn right knee tendon (twice), torn right hamstring (twice), dislocated right shoulder, torn right ankle tendon, dislocated toe.

No, this was a time to celebrate how Ken Griffey Jr. made going to Mariners game fun and put this city on the baseball map.